Chapter 315: Everywhere
The next moment, Zhu Xuanji saw a scene from the past of the No. 3 Golden Furnace.
The door of the golden furnace was wide open, and a mysterious cultivator stood before it, holding a scythe, throwing the corpses of demonic beasts and cultivators into the furnace.
There were so many corpses that even Zhu Xuanji squinted slightly.
A headless cultivator's corpse was taken out of the corpse bag.
A jade thumb ring slipped from his fingers and fell onto the floor tiles.
The mysterious cultivator slightly moved his wrist and used the end of the scythe's handle to pick up the jade thumb ring artifact. Then, he raised his arm and sent the handle into the golden furnace.
The furnace was almost filled with corpses, but after the scythe handle squeezed in, it created a little more space.
When the mysterious cultivator retrieved the scythe handle, the jade thumb ring artifact at the end was gone, left inside the furnace.
It wasn’t just this artifact—Zhu Xuanji had already seen that many artifacts and robes from the cultivators' bodies hadn’t been removed, but were thrown into the furnace as well.
In the end, the mysterious cultivator also placed the scythe he was holding into the furnace.
The fire ignited.
The golden furnace fiercely burned, conducting a smelting that exhausted its foundations.
The smelting quickly ended, and the flames extinguished, leaving black cracks covering the golden furnace.
The next moment, the furnace shattered.
A massive mechanical serpent raised its gigantic head amidst the fragments and smoke.
It slithered intimately toward the mysterious cultivator, who raised his head and stroked the mechanical serpent’s head.
"It’s Zheng Jianlian's demonic weapon from the Night Rain!"
Zhu Xuanji's heart trembled.
"Then who is this mysterious cultivator?"
Golden light shot out from his eyes, shining intensely.
The mysterious cultivator’s blurred appearance gradually faded, leaving only a vague humanoid outline. Within this outline, a huge purple scar became visible.
The purple scar was shaped like a sea cucumber, emitting an eerie purple glow. It was full, with countless bumps on its surface, resembling the fat, greasy body of an insect, or the freshly growing tentacles.
A strong purple aura penetrated through, invading Zhu Xuanji’s eyes in reverse.
Zhu Xuanji hurriedly closed his eyes, golden light seeping from his eyelids.
It took quite some time for him to completely dispel the traces of purple energy from his eyes.
When he opened them again, Zhu Xuanji's expression had slightly changed.
"Who is this mysterious cultivator? Could it be Zheng Jianlian?"
Zhu Xuanji immediately recalled his conversation with Zheng Shuanggou—
Zheng Shuanggou: "About eight years ago, my cousin, while entering the Immortal Palace, killed a Foundation Establishment cultivator."
"At that time, this Foundation Establishment cultivator was holding a mechanical scythe, behaving like a madman, indiscriminately slashing at innocent cultivators."
"My cousin couldn’t stand by and watch, so he upheld justice and struck him down on the spot, obtaining a broken mechanical demonic weapon and a complete set of mechanical blueprints."
...
Zhu Xuanji had already seen those mechanical blueprints, but couldn’t understand the structure of the Night Rain demonic weapon.
However, by following the blueprints step by step, one could indeed forge such a Night Rain demonic weapon!
"The mechanical scythe forged by the golden furnace should be the one in Zheng Jianlian's hand."
"It was once complete, so why was it later damaged?"
"What happened in between?"
"Was it truly as Zheng Shuanggou said?"
"Or was this all a meticulously planned act by the Zheng family? In fact, they had long since forged this mechanical scythe?"
Zhu Xuanji did not proceed with further deduction.
He lacked more information.
He had found an important clue, but what followed were more mysteries.
Zhu Xuanji took a step forward, starting to run, weaving through the secret chambers.
Now that he had recovered to the Golden Core stage, the formations in the secret chambers were nothing to him, easily swept aside.
In the past, Zhu Xuanji might have warned Zheng Jianlian, but now, he wouldn’t do so.
"Judging by the results of the golden furnace's forging, this Night Rain demonic weapon is quite sinister, capable of devouring other corpses to enhance itself."
"Perhaps, after Zheng Jianlian forged the Night Rain demonic weapon, its power surged due to killing numerous enemies!"
"Under my Celestial Golden Eyes, the mysterious cultivator still concealed his true face, only revealing a purple scar."
"The purple scar is far from simple—what could it be, to the point of even eroding my golden eyes? Fortunately, it was only a few traces of purple energy..."
At that moment, Song Fuli suddenly appeared within Zhu Xuanji's spiritual sense range.
Song Fuli quickly approached Zhu Xuanji.
With a few secret chambers between them, Zhu Xuanji communicated through spiritual sense: "Song Fuli, stop."
"If you come any closer, I will treat you as an enemy and deal with you."
Song Fuli hurriedly said, "Lord Zhu, I am a friend, not a foe! The Night Rain demonic weapon is too ferocious, and I’ve brought you firsthand intelligence."
"I only want to figure out where Sun Lingtong is."
"He’s the one who stole my treasure, and I need to reclaim what was taken!"
Zhu Xuanji received Song Fuli’s information and pointed out that Rudie Maiden had already appeared and had deployed the Light-Bending Illusion Array. However, after a recent small shift, Zhu Xuanji wasn’t sure which secret chamber the previous battle had taken place in.
His spiritual sense extended outward, covering many square-shaped secret chambers, but he could only detect the auras of the cultivators inside, unable to penetrate deeper.
People like Song Fuli, who concealed their aura, had eluded Zhu Xuanji’s detection earlier. It wasn’t until Song Fuli voluntarily exposed himself that Zhu Xuanji became aware.
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit's vision was different from that of the cultivators.
It could clearly see everything happening within the transformed secret chambers.
"Ning Zhuo has made his move!"
"He’s heading straight for Meng Chong."
"Damn it, damn it!"
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit was incredibly anxious.
Its speech sped up, urging Meng Chong to charge faster.
If it were spiritual sense, it wouldn’t extend outward. Qi Refining cultivators reading jade slips had to press the slips against their foreheads. But now that Ning Zhuo had advanced to the Foundation Establishment stage, possessing spiritual sense, he could naturally observe the outside situation.
The Meng family’s Golden Core body cultivator officially joined forces with Zheng Jianlian.
Song Fuli distanced himself from Zhu Xuanji, making his stance clear.
Zhu Xuanji headed toward the Meng family’s Golden Core body cultivator and Zheng Jianlian!
At the same time, Ning Zhuo, under the cover of Yun Yin Hanbao, was fully chasing after Meng Chong.
Lightning crackled around him, emitting a buzzing hum.
This time, there was no sound of mechanical triggers.
After the transformed secret chambers were struck, the main hall generated a cosmic barrier, which also affected the minor transformation.
The second minor transformation arrived even faster than the first!
Thirty-six steps were not enough.
Song Fuli, Ning Zhuo, and Meng Chong sprinted, expending most of their quota.
Zhu Xuanji, the Meng family’s Golden Core body cultivator, and Zheng Jianlian were just one room away from encountering each other.
The second minor transformation once again pulled everyone apart.
"Just three secret chambers away," the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit angrily pounded its fist on the throne.
Smack! Smack! Smack!
The flames from its long whip lashed out so quickly that the shadows of the whip flickered.
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit’s ferocity surged, its teeth gritted, and its gaze shot flames, but it remained silent.
Outside Huoshi Mountain.
The Nascent Soul stage cultivator from the Taiqing Palace cursed angrily, "Meng Hu, stop bullying people!"
As he spoke, he pulled out a shield.
The shield was thin, yet strangely blocked Meng Hu’s powerful strike.
Seeing the familiar patterns, Meng Hu exclaimed in surprise, "The Night Rain demonic weapon?!"
The Nascent Soul stage cultivator from the Taiqing Palace sneered, "This is the Thin Fate Shield. If you can break this shield, I will withdraw without complaint."
Meng Hu, provoked, unleashed his full power.
However, no matter how hard he attacked, he couldn’t break the thin shield.
Instead, his body became covered in purple-tinged wounds. This was the result of the Thin Fate Shield's counter-damage.
"How is it?" The Nascent Soul stage cultivator from the Taiqing Palace smiled proudly.
"Not much!" Meng Hu spat out a mouthful of blood and charged again.
The Nascent Soul stage cultivator from the Taiqing Palace looked grim and had no choice but to send out a voice transmission: "The Meng family is determined to get the Lava Immortal Palace, even secretly sending Meng Hu to assist."
"They’re shameless, ignoring my explanations and truly want to isolate my Taiqing Palace."
"Such a hurried move further shows that the competition for the Lava Immortal Palace has reached its final stage."
"All of you, enter the palace and fight for the position of palace master with everything you have!"
The Taiqing Palace had five members on this trip. Besides the Nascent
Soul stage cultivator, there were two Golden Core stage cultivators and two Foundation Establishment followers of the Golden Core cultivators.
Upon hearing the leader’s order, the two Golden Core cultivators from the Taiqing Palace immediately took action.
They simultaneously took out black garments, dressed in them, and disguised themselves as two black-shadow demonic cultivators.
The two of them hid their figures and rushed toward the Lava Immortal Palace.
Inside the inner perimeter of the Lava Immortal Palace.
Groups of red-flame demonic beasts surged like a flood, breaking through many gaps in the defenses.
The cultivators suffered heavy casualties but still fought with all their might to resist.
Sun Lingtong ignored all of this. He had obtained the latest news that the restrictions on the transformed secret chambers had weakened significantly, allowing Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment cultivators to enter.
"I must go back!" Sun Lingtong gritted his teeth, his eyes firm.
Yang Chanyu looked at him in surprise, "Are you crazy? The front line is shrinking, and many Golden Core cultivators are active in the inner perimeter. If we show ourselves, we’ll surely be surrounded and attacked."
"You've already been eliminated, so why go back?"
Sun Lingtong shook his head, "I must go back. Yang Chanyu... take care of yourself. If things look bad, just retreat first!"
After speaking, Sun Lingtong concealed his figure and secretly headed toward the main hall of the Immortal Palace.
"Hmph, wait!" Yang Chanyu stopped him. "We’ve fought together for this long; I’ll go back with you!"
"Huh?" Sun Lingtong was surprised.
Yang Chanyu snorted coldly, "Don’t use invisibility techniques. Once discovered, it's very easy to fall into a desperate situation."
"Use this instead."
Sun Lingtong saw the clothes Yang Chanyu took out and immediately gave a thumbs-up, "Good idea!"
The two of them dressed up, turning into two... black-shadow demonic cultivators.
Elsewhere.
"Cousin, I’m moving. I’ll leave the Zhou family cultivators to you," Zhou Nongying sent a message.
Another Golden Core ancestor of the Zhou family nodded slightly, "Go without worry."
Zhou Nongying then pulled out a set of black garments, dressed himself in them, and turned into a black-shadow demonic cultivator.
Sometimes, pretending to be a demonic cultivator was the most convenient option.
In many critical situations, a righteous identity could actually be a hindrance.
"It’s finally my turn to make an entrance!" Luo Shang boldly charged into the Lava Immortal Palace.
The demonic beast tide parted in front of his Golden Core-level ghost general, leaving a noticeable gap.
Luo Shang seized the opportunity to enter the inner perimeter of the Immortal Palace.
Then, he saw nearly ten black-shadow demonic cultivators, one after another, making their appearance!
"What’s going on?!" Luo Shang was shocked. "Has it become a trend to disguise as black-shadow demonic cultivators now?"
(End of this chapter)